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UNLOCKING INVESTING TOGETHER: PLUM JOINS FORCES WITH BITPANDA TO BRING CRYPTO INVESTING TO MORE CUSTOMERS
Smart money app Plum and fintech unicorn Bitpanda have joined forces to make crypto investing available to Plum’s rapidly growing European customer base.
The development underlines the growing demand from investors in Europe for easy access to safe cryptocurrency trading that allows them to diversify their investment holdings.
Plum’s specialized financial services app is now completely linked with Bitpanda’s cutting-edge API solution, which enables fintech and traditional banks to provide their customers with 24/7 access to investment. As a result, Plum’s interface can be used to access Bitpanda’s crypto services, and Bitpanda will handle all transactions.
“It’s our ambition to provide access to a broad range of assets for our customers so they can properly diversify their investment portfolios and support their growth over the long-term. We’re delighted to work with Bitpanda, a digital asset leader, so our customers can now also access crypto in a secure, convenient and simple way, alongside our existing, broad range of stocks and funds. We have a shared mission of a more accessible and informative financial system that helps people get the most from their money. Plum already enables people to save, invest, spend and budget more easily. The addition of crypto to our app helps our customers to manage their finances in one place.”
Victor Trokoudes, CEO and co-founder of Plum.
Since the development of Bitpanda’s API solution, a number of major fintech companies and online platforms have partnered with Bitpanda to make use of a trading infrastructure that is both compliant and secure.
“At Bitpanda, we are keen to bring investing closer to everyone, everywhere. In a world where financial services are rapidly evolving, and consumers demand more convenience and safety, we have created an innovative API-based infrastructure that provides other companies and their customers with access to a state-of-the-art trading experience. This saves time and money and ensures they are trading via one of Europe’s leading exchanges, which complies with the strictest regulatory standards – something that our partners can rely on. We share a core mission with Plum, to make investing accessible to all, and I’m excited we are now able to do that together.”
Eric Demuth, co-founder and CEO of Bitpanda.
These connections have been made possible by Bitpanda’s dedication to legal compliance and its long track record of dependability. The Bitpanda Group also holds the PSD2 and MiFID II licenses, and is registered with the Czech Trade Authority as VASP, the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA), the French Autorité Des Marchés Financiers (AMF), and the Austrian Autorité Des Marchés Financiers (AMF), and became Austria’s first Electronic Money Institution (EMI) in accordance with European law (EMD2), in addition to having a fully AML5 compliant KYC process. Additionally, Bitpanda obtained registration with the Bank of Spain and the Italian Virtual Asset Services Provider (VASP), becoming the first international cryptocurrency provider to do so.
HSBC AND NOVA CREDIT LAUNCH PARTNERSHIP TO OFFER CUSTOMERS BORDERLESS INTERNATIONAL CREDIT CHECKING
Nova Credit, the world’s leading consumer-permission credit bureau, today announced that it has partnered with HSBC to provide the bank with global access to its cross-border credit data product, Credit Passport, creating more opportunities for credit access to cross-border customers across the globe.
Through this partnership, HSBC will have the authorization to access the translated credit histories of clients who have just moved to a new nation as part of their credit applications. The bank will be able to responsibly and broadly approve more real-time application requests thanks to this cutting-edge system. In May, the initial deployment with HSBC Singapore began.
HSBC Ventures has invested $10 million in Nova Credit to demonstrate its support for the firm and hastened its global expansion.
Global Deployment Starts with Singapore
Credit history has traditionally halted at the border, making it difficult for many financial services organizations and lenders to work with clients who have established creditworthiness in their home country but arrive with credit that is invisible. The process of applying for credit at a financial institution is made easier and more secure by Credit Passport®, which enables quick and easy access to applicants’ global credit histories and scores.
As part of the bank’s global rollout, HSBC Singapore is the first HSBC entity to introduce the capability, making it the first company to use Credit Passport® outside of the U.S. This allows HSBC Singapore to instantly access the translated credit histories of newcomers moving to Singapore and facilitating their quick access to credit.
To accommodate the thousands of new Singaporeans with credit histories in India, Nova Credit and HSBC Singapore will first employ Credit Passport®. In order to increase the number of newcomers to Singapore, the bank plans to extend the solution’s coverage to customers with credit histories from Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines in 2022 and to more country bureaus in 2023.
“Opening up a world of opportunity sits at the core of HSBC’s purpose, and we’re always passionate about identifying new ways to solve problems faced by our International customers,”
“Accessing credit in a new market can be a challenge and is something we’ve been helping customers with for years. We’re excited to be partnering with Nova Credit, to improve our ability to do this even more, with its innovative digital Credit Passport. We’re proud to be the first organization to offer this to customers in Singapore.”
Taylan Turan, Group Head of Retail Banking and Strategy, Wealth and Personal Banking at HSBC.
Additional Investment to Support Company’s Global Scale
HSBC Ventures has invested $10 million in Nova Credit as a sign of their faith in the company’s mission to bind together the global financial system. With the help of this funding, Nova Credit will be able to assist HSBC in hastening the global rollout of Credit Passport.
“Nova Credit and its Credit Passport® product are at the forefront of financial innovation and we are delighted to bring this solution to our large international customer base,”
“Seeing the company’s success in reaching migrant communities over the past six years in the U.S., it is clear that Credit Passport® should be shared with a wider audience. This is the first step in an exciting journey, and we look forward to working with Nova Credit to bring scale to the business and its work towards financial inclusion.”
Catherine Zhou, Global Head of Ventures, Digital Innovation and Partnerships at HSBC.
Leading investors like Kleiner Perkins, Canapi Ventures, General Catalyst, and Index Ventures, as well as officials from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Citi, have joined forces with HSBC Ventures.
“Despite considerable globalization, our financial world remains far from borderless. This historic partnership with HSBC will bring the Credit Passport® to new parts of the world, unlocking new frontiers in the flow of financial information,”
“This partnership ensures that more people who cross borders can take their data with them, in a secure and compliant manner, and ultimately arrive and thrive in their new home.”
Misha Esipov, co-founder and CEO of Nova Credit.
Since its debut in the United States in 2016, Nova Credit has forged connections with credit bureaus in more than 20 nations to obtain consumer-permitted access to more than a billion credit profiles and formed alliances with renowned lenders like American Express and Verizon.
“This partnership and funding is the first step toward achieving a core goal of delivering the Credit Passport® globally: ensuring your financial identity is your own, no matter where you’re from or where you choose to live,”
“We are honored to take this historic step in partnership with HSBC.”
Collin Galster, VP of International at Nova Credit.
ESUSU AND FANNIE MAE TEAM UP TO CREATE EQUITABLE FINANCIAL OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH RENT REPORTING
Esusu Financial Inc. today announced a new collaboration with Fannie Mae to help renters build credit by incorporating on-time rent payments into renter’s credit scores as part of its strategy to advance equity in the housing market. Through this relationship, Fannie Mae will incentivize its borrowers to report on-time rental payments to the three major credit-reporting bureaus through Esusu’s rent reporting platform. The platform will automatically unenroll renters when missed payments occur, preventing harm to those who struggle financially.
Starting today, every borrower who enrolls will get discounted fees moving forward in addition to the first full year of service fees for Esusu’s platform being covered by Fannie Mae. Together, the program’s participants’ multifamily property owners will boost rent payments made on time, cut down on evictions, and—most importantly—scale their Environmental Social Governance (ESG) initiatives in a way that is transparent and profitable.
“Fannie Mae is committed to implementing scalable solutions to help renters build their credit history and improve credit scores by providing access to its Multifamily Positive Rent Payment Reporting pilot program,”
“Working with Esusu, we hope to bolster equitable access to credit for individuals and families while adding value for owners and operators.”
Michele Evans, Executive Vice President, Head of Multifamily, Fannie Mae.
Less than 10% of renters have on-time rental payment history that is reflected in their credit ratings, which historically means that renting does not help credit building in the same way that a mortgage does. The roughly 44 million rental households in the United States are at a severe disadvantage as a result of this legacy paradigm when trying to establish their credit, which is crucial when looking for other financing choices.
“The reporting of a renter’s positive rent payments to credit bureaus has been shown to have a positive impact on credit scores, and for renters, with no established credit score, it could help them establish a credit history,”
Jonathan Gross, Vice President – Multifamily Strategy & Impact, Fannie Mae.
For Fannie Mae Multifamily property owners seeking for ways to assist their tenants, Positive Rent Payment Reporting is available. Fannie Mae and Esusu share a long-standing dedication to advancing renter financial access and sustainable housing opportunities as well as to creating a more equitable multifamily housing ecosystem.
“Over the past year, we have seen what Esusu’s rent reporting platform can do for Related Affordable residents to help improve their financial health,”
“We are thrilled to have extended our partnership with this forward-thinking company to better serve all 50,000+ Related Affordable residents.”
Jeffrey I. Brodsky, vice chairman of Related Companies.
“Esusu and Fannie Mae share the common goal of bolstering diverse, successful, and equitable communities,”
“Today, there are still systemic barriers to access for millions of people looking to create a pathway to financial stability. Working with Fannie Mae enables Esusu to create opportunity pathways for those who have historically been deemed credit invisible while also laying the foundation to access other financial instruments that contribute to generational wealth-building opportunities that come from good credit.”
Samir Goel and Wemimo Abbey, Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of Esusu.
Fannie Mae borrowers can learn more about enrolling with Esusu and how to gain closing cost benefits and discounts at Esusu Rent.
AFFIRM AND AMAZON INTRODUCE PAY-OVER-TIME OPTION TO CUSTOMERS IN CANADA
Affirm, the payment network that empowers consumers and helps merchants drive growth, today announced the expansion of its relationship with Amazon to Canada, bringing increased payment flexibility and transparency to customers shopping on Amazon.ca. This payment option will be available during checkout to all eligible customers in both English and French within the next month.
“We’re always looking to enhance the paying experience for our customers, including how and when they can pay for their orders,”
“Introducing Affirm in Canada gives our customers another flexible payment option for their purchases.”
David Williams, Vice President of Amazon Payment Products.
Customers who choose Affirm as their method of payment at Amazon.ca’s checkout will experience a brief, free soft credit check that won’t affect their credit score. The available payment alternatives for each consumer will be determined by Affirm’s technology in a matter of seconds. If authorized, qualified customers can divide purchases totaling $50 or more into straightforward monthly payments. Eligible consumers will be aware of their monthly payments’ duration and number right away. Customers won’t have their total payment amount increased and won’t be assessed a late or additional fee even if they pay late or miss a payment.
“Since launching with Amazon in the U.S., we’ve been providing eligible Amazon customers with a powerful tool to responsibly increase their purchasing power,”
“We are excited to bring customers shopping on Amazon.ca the opportunity to pay for everyday items and milestone purchases with Affirm as we deliver the same level of transparency and flexibility that customers have come to expect from Affirm across our markets in North America and beyond.”
Geoff Kott, Affirm’s Chief Revenue Officer.
NEXI AND GLOBAL BLUE SIGN A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP TO PROVIDE FRICTIONLESS OMNICHANNEL PAYMENT EXPERIENCE FOR THE HOSPITALITY, RESTAURANTS, AND RETAIL ON ORACLE® PLATFORMS
Nexi, the leading PayTech in Europe, and Global Blue, the leading technology company in tax‐free shopping and added‐value payments, enter into a strategic partnership aimed at integrating Nexi’s payment solutions directly into existing Property Management Systems (PMS) and Point Of Sale (POS) software platforms. This agreement further strengthens a long‐term relationship on DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion service), now enabling merchants in 25 countries where Nexi operates, to accept payments across the Oracle® suite of products, thanks to Global Blue’s certified gold-level payment integration partner status with Oracle®.
By streamlining operational processes and minimizing time and effort for Front Desk and Back Office staff, this integration offers significant benefits for hotels, restaurants, and retailers using Oracle® OPERA Cloud Property Management, Simphony Point of Sale, and Oracle Retail XStore Point of Service. By utilizing Nexi’s distinctive blend of European scale and in-depth local understanding, it allows merchants to deliver a genuine omnichannel and seamless experience.
The customer experience is made easier, quicker, and more secure thanks to end-to-end tokenization for secure card data storage and compliance with the strictest security requirements of PCI DSS.
“The strategic partnership with Global Blue further reinforces our capabilities to offer merchants and corporates the best combination of European scale and customer proximity,”
“We will extend our omnichannel acceptance solutions and continue to provide propositions that enable new user experiences for consumers and new business opportunities for merchants, with a specific focus on the hotellerie, hospitality and retail verticals.”
Roberto Catanzaro, Group Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer at Nexi.
“Through this cooperation, Global Blue confirms itself as a leading partner in the technology and payments sector, enabling its customer base operating in the hospitality and retail sectors to have an integrated, omnichannel management tool for a frictionless experience”
“As a provider of this innovative solution, we can and will continue to be the point of reference for all our acquirers and partners, who recognize our expertise as necessary to increase their market performance.”
Damian Cecchi, SVP Added Value Payment Solutions.
FLUTTERWAVE ENABLES GOOGLE PAY FOR AFRICAN BUSINESSES
Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, today announced Google Pay, a mobile payment service, developed by Google, as a payment method on Flutterwave. As part of this collaboration, Google Pay will serve as an additional payment option for merchants on Flutterwave for business. This collaboration will offer safe and seamless payments, as well as convenient checkout experiences for customers.
Google Pay is a secure, convenient, and practical way to make contactless in-store, app, and online payments. In Google Wallet, a digital wallet app accessible on supported Android smartphones, tablets, or watches, users save their cards for Google Pay.
Through this partnership, customers of Google Pay in supported nations can make payments to companies using Flutterwave in Africa. This integration is intended to lower the rate of cart abandonment for businesses using Flutterwave, with an average transaction completion time of 3 minutes.
How it Works
- Get on a Flutterwave-supported website
- Select what you want to pay for
- Fill out the order form
- Select Pay with Google Pay as your payment method
- Complete the payment with your Google Pay details.
To get paid via Google Pay, Flutterwave merchants must manually opt in on their dashboard.
“The continued and rapid growth of Flutterwave is due to our commitment to building a platform with simplified payments for everyone. The GooglePay payment option will attract more international customers and increase the current success rates for businesses on Flutterwave. Integrating with Google pay will allow users across the globe to participate in the booming e-commerce ecosystem in Africa. It will enable us to further fulfill our promise of creating endless possibilities for all”.
Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, Founder and CEO of Flutterwave.
DIGITAL ASSETS INFRASTRUCTURE FIRM COPPER.CO SELECTS FENERGO TO STREAMLINE KYC AND CLIENT LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT
Fenergo, the leading provider of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) software solutions for financial institutions, today announces that Copper.co, a leading provider of custody, trading and settlement services for digital assets, will deploy its SaaS-based CLM and anti-money laundering (AML) solution to onboard increasingly complex client ownership structures.
Copper needed a CLM and AML platform that could automate and expand its in-depth evaluation and provide a single picture of its institutional investor client base because it had more over $50 billion in notional flow each month across its infrastructure.
“While crypto as an asset class has experienced significant growth, firms operating in this space are coming under increasing pressure to improve client experience and adapt quickly to evolving regulatory environments. Our CLM and AML solution helps firms like Copper to reduce risk, manage compliance and deliver tangible operational efficiencies that transform the investor journey through the onboarding lifecycle.”
Stella Clarke, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Fenergo.
Institutional asset managers, wealth managers, hedge funds, private banks, crypto funds, and family offices are just a few of Copper’s clientele. The company that provides infrastructure for digital assets wanted to streamline the onboarding of new clients. Copper can now guarantee completely automated checks and balances are carried out throughout the customer onboarding process by adopting Fenergo’s CLM and AML solution throughout its 500+ strong client base.
“Continued market demand and growth across our platform require us to look to increase automation and facilitate scale where appropriate across the business. The Fenergo CLM and AML solution extends the Copper best-in-class experience to the full client onboarding lifecycle – improving customer satisfaction, reducing the time it takes to onboard clients, and ensuring thorough risk assessment to protect all parties involved.”
Carly Nuzbach Lowery, Chief Legal Officer at Copper.
STASH UNVEILS STASH CORE ALONGSIDE MAMBU
Stash, the investing and banking app with more than 2 million customers and nearly $3 billion in assets under management, announced today that it successfully built and launched Stash Core, its new, proprietary infrastructure platform that underpins the service for Americans who bank like investors. Stash Core is a world-class system that unlocks innovations in banking and, in the future, new capabilities in credit, savings, lending, and more. It will also allow the company to welcome new subscribers and meet demand more easily.
Built on Stash Core, the updated Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard®, improved customer assistance, and updated benefits, such as higher rewards, are all part of Stash’s new banking account experience. Customers may earn stock and invest it when they shop thanks to the first and only Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard® (their patent was just approved). Stash users will be able to earn up to 4 times more in the future with the relaunched card. To date, Stash has awarded more than 59 million stock rewards.
“Stash Core gives us flexibility and ownership of every customer touchpoint. It’s the future of inclusive finance and transformative to our business,”
“The entire Stash platform is for everyday Americans who want to build long-term wealth with a trusted partner. With Stash Core and the Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard®, we are able to deliver the very best in financial tooling, customer service, and AI-powered, personalized wealth-building for those who want to earn stock and invest as they spend.”
Stash’s co-founder and CEO Brandon Krieg.
The leading FinTech company, which has over $125 million in annualized sales and is still adding customers, just released Stash Core. Weekly contributions have climbed by 30% over the last two years as more regular Americans turn to Stash to save and invest in the world that is changing so quickly right now. Mastercard, Stride Bank, Marqeta, Mambu, Alloy, and more than a dozen additional leaders in their respective industries have integrated with Stash Core in some capacity.
“Stride Bank is proud to partner with Stash on the development and ongoing support of Stash Core and in issuing Stash’s Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard®,”
“The consumer-friendly features of Stash’s Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard®, which allow people to earn stock as they spend, is an extremely unique offering. Together with Stash’s financial education, customers grow their knowledge and diverse investments. Stash’s goal of empowering Americans to build better financial futures makes them an ideal partner for Stride Bank, as we are a leading fintech bank focused on driving financial innovation with integrity.”
Jimmy Stallings, President of Payments, Stride Bank.
“Today’s digital world requires payment solutions that give people choice, control and empowerment in their financial lives,”
“Mastercard shares in Stash’s vision of delivering an innovative and trusted experience, and we’re excited to work closely as the exclusive network to bring Stash’s Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard® to more people and support this next stage of growth.”
Sherri Haymond, executive vice president, Digital Partnerships at Mastercard.
“We’re proud to enable Stash’s new banking platform as they deliver seamless new financial services experiences for their customers,”
“Our partnership with Stash showcases the range of innovative banking and money movement solutions made possible by Marqeta’s APIs, and we look forward to supporting them as they grow and scale Stash Core and the Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard® across the globe.”
Simon Khalaf, Chief Product Officer at Marqeta.
“Stash and Mambu worked together to develop a new banking experience with savings goals that will make life easier for customers,”
“The Stash team brought strong technical experience and a collaborative mindset, and it was a pleasure to work with them to build something that will be so useful to millions of people beginning their investing and savings journeys.”
Robin Smith, Regional VP, North America, Mambu.
“We are thrilled to support Stash on the launch of Stash Core both because we are fans of the platform and because it supports our vision to create a more dynamic and accessible financial industry,”
“With Alloy’s identity decisioning platform, new and existing Stash customers can feel confident in the security of their assets.”
Tommy Nicholas, co-founder and CEO at Alloy.
The Stash Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard®, Auto-Stash, zero overdraft fees, direct deposit up to two days early, saving and budgeting tools, advanced mobile wallet capabilities, contactless payments, easy access to more than 55,000 ATMs, FDIC insurance up to $250,000 through Stride Bank, N.A., Member FDIC, plus advanced security features like Mastercard Global ServiceTM and Mastercard Zero Liability, are just a few of the advantages of the new banking account for every Stash
Fast-growth B2B Payments Company Mondu Secures $13m Series A Extension For Continued International Expansion
B2B payments firm Mondu today announced a $13 million Series A expansion round led by Valar Ventures in partnership with FinTech Collective. This new investment follows an impressive first year for Mondu, during which the company has grown rapidly, expanding into new markets and launching a variety of products that have made the financial lives of businesses easier. should be easier.
The Series A expansion brings the total investment round to $56 million and will enable further product development and market growth. Mondu is exploring new use cases for its B2B payment products, such as omnichannel solutions.
“Buy Now, Pay Later in B2B has established itself as a valuable tool to meet the business buyers’ expectations, providing a ‘consumer’ checkout experience and flexible payment. We are confident that the demand for Buy Now, Pay Later for B2B will grow dramatically in 2023. There are many positive effects of this financial tool, not only for buyers but also merchants and marketplaces as they continue seeing basket sizes increase and enhanced loyalty of buyers.”
Mondu Co-Founder and Co-CEO Philipp Povel.
Since announcing the first Series A last May, Mondu has introduced installment payments and expanded into Austria and the Netherlands, where it opened a second office in Amsterdam. Mondu’s team has grown from 20 people in early 2022 to 140 and has appointed more talent to its C-Suite, including Chief Commercial Officer Julian Kurz and Chief Human Resources Officer Lauren Hoehlein Joseph.
Since its founding in October 2021, Mondu has secured $90 million in equity and loan capital from Valar Ventures, FinTech Collective, Cherry Ventures, leading business angels and German bank VVRB.
“We strongly believe in Mondu’s ability to become a leader in B2B payments innovation. Last year the company demonstrated incredible growth not only in its product offering and customer base but also in terms of organisational maturity. We want to accelerate the execution of their vision further as Mondu continues to build a platform of B2B payments solutions to serve a variety of industries.”
Andrew McCormack, Founding Partner of Valar Ventures.
“We have backed the Mondu team since the beginning and have continued to be impressed with the team’s methodical execution. With this extra capital, the Mondu team can continue to distinguish themselves from their peers and become the gold standard for merchants in this rapidly growing category of fintech.”Thousands of businesses have already turned to Mondu’s solution, and the company has signed merchant customers across industries, including construction materials, electronics, beauty, cleaning, and manufacturing. One example of a Mondu customer is ChefsList, a marketplace for the restaurant industry and its suppliers and producers.
Gareth Jones, Founding Partner of FinTech Collective.
“ChefsList’s goal is to be a solution provider and partner for wholesalers, making their next step into the digital future easier and more efficient. With our launch of Mondu’s Buy Now, Pay Later solution, we are stabilising processes and securing a cash flow advantage for our customers. The food industry is the backbone of our economy. It ensures that we all have consistent and safe access to fresh food daily, whether there’s a pandemic or an energy crisis. With our innovations, we are assisting industry players in implementing much-needed digital transformation.”
ChefsList Founder André Klein.
In 2022, Mondu was recognized by Wired Magazine as one of the hottest startups in Berlin and featured by Accel during the inaugural FinTech 100 EMEA, the next generation of category leaders.
BR-DGE partners with VISA to offer businesses and consumers more choices in how they manage their money
BR-DGE, a leading payment orchestration service provider, today announced a three-year partnership with Visa, a global leader in digital payments, to deliver solutions and innovative payments for merchants and consumers, giving them more choices on how to pay and get paid.
Consumers and businesses are looking for new ways to manage their money and want flexibility, control, and security. Through a single point of integration, BR-DGE offers a variety of payment options for merchants, including over 100 payment providers and 200 alternative payment methods. By partnering with Visa, BR-DGE will gain access to Visa’s open network, benefiting from Visa’s global reach and scale, and secure technology. The partnership will focus on a range of digital commerce products at a time of rapid innovation in the payments industry.
“The partnership represents an exciting development in the payments sector as consumers seek greater flexibility, transparency, and control. Collaborating with Visa will enable merchants to offer payment solutions and experiences that are easily and effectively integrated into their existing payments stack, at the same time as helping them to remain competitive by promoting customer loyalty.”
Tom Voaden, Head of Partnerships at BR-DGE.
“Collaboration with fintech companies plays a crucial role in driving innovations that meet consumer demand. We’re delighted to be partnering with BR-DGE to offer businesses and consumers more choice in how they pay and get paid. Our open network means Visa members, like BR-DGE, can take advantage of our cutting-edge technology and security, to deliver the innovative technologies of the future.”
Simon Gilson-Fox, Head of Product, UK & Ireland, Visa.
Swiss fintech Relio raises €3m
Relio, a Swiss SME banking startup founded by Lav Odorovic, co-founder of German digital bank Penta, has raised €3 million.
Relio is launching a digital payments account for corporate customers built on a platform designed to overcome regulatory and compliance hurdles plaguing similar businesses.
“Anti-money laundering compliance issues have remained the weakest link of challenger banks when serving business customers:”
“Complex ownership structures, international money flows and complicated business models pose higher risks in terms of fraud and money laundering. It can take customers from weeks to months to open an account due to ineffective due diligence. Transactions and accounts are often frozen as a preventive measure until they have been manually checked by experts.”
Relio’s automated compliance system will overcome the limitations placed on business customers who need to pay salaries and invoices on time.
Lav Odorovic, co-founder of German digital bank Penta.
Once the funding round is complete, the startup will continue to grow the technology stack and work towards obtaining a Finma Fintech license. The company is backed by SIX Fintech Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds, as well as TX Ventures as new lead investors. The investor base also includes F10, Elsa Invest, daFUND, QBIT Capital and several business angels.
TMX Group Announces Strategic Investment in VettaFi
TMX Group Limited announced that it has made a strategic investment in VettaFi Holdings LLC (VettaFi), a US private sector data, analytics, indexing, digital distribution and thought leadership company. VettaFi fosters a cutting-edge, data-driven platform designed to empower and educate the modern financial advisor, asset manager and institutional investor. TMX Corporation purchased approximately 21% of VettaFi’s common shares for US$175 million, or approximately C$234 million. The transaction closes on January 9, 2023.
“We are excited to announce a significant investment in VettaFi, which includes a commercial agreement that will accelerate TMX’s global index strategy and increase the depth and value of data-driven insights we provide to clients around the world,”
“VettaFi is a dynamic and growing index, ETF data and related digital distribution business, and we look forward to working together to explore ways to combine TMX Datalinx’s data sets and capabilities with VettaFi’s comprehensive services and expertise to further enhance our offerings.”
Jay Rajarathinam, Chief Operating Officer, TMX Group.
VettaFi offers a comprehensive global index suite through its index factory and powerful ETF services including ETF analysis, trends global and distributed ETF databases. In addition to providing interactive online search and tools, VettaFi also provides asset managers with a range of digital distribution and indexing solutions to innovate and scale their business there.
“We are thrilled to forge this partnership with TMX, combining VettaFi’s data-driven indexing, analytics, and digital platform, and TMX’s global scale and TMX Datalinx business,”
“Together we’ll seek out new innovative opportunities for investors of all sizes around the world to thrive, by creating new products and digital communities and transforming traditional distribution.”
Leland Clemons, CEO of VettaFi.
John McKenzie, CEO, of TMX Group and Mr. Rajarathinam will join VettaFi’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.
Evercore acts as the exclusive financial advisor to TMX Group and WilmerHale LLP acts as the legal advisor to TMX Group.
Brightwell Expands Partnership With Virgin Voyages, Providing Corporate Disbursements for Customers and Employees Globally
After successfully integrating with Navigator in 2019, Brightwell, a global payments technology company, has extended its partnership with Virgin Voyages. With ReadyRemit, powered by Brightwell’s international payments partners, Virgin Voyages can now easily pay suppliers, workers, and more, while also offering customer payments like discounts, rewards and cashback with a digital solution.
“Traditional banking solutions have proven to be too rigid for the challenges that we’ve seen, but managing a corporate disbursement product can be time-consuming,”
“Using ReadyRemit, we save our customers and employees time and money so that we can pay them easily and digitally in near real-time.”
John F. Birdsall, Senior Director of Corporate Accounting, Virgin Voyages.
In addition to fast digital payments, ReadyRemit allows Brightwell customers like Virgin Voyages to offer secure payments in more than 120 countries worldwide without Virgin needing to store their credit card or banking information row.
“We are proud to expand our partnership with our client, Virgin Voyages, after three years of service,”
“We aim to provide them with cost-effective, simple solutions to their challenges, which has allowed us to grow our relationship with their team to new heights.”
John Markendorf, COO of Brightwell.
Brightwell launched ReadyRemit in October 2022 to help more organizations generate more cross-border revenue using a comprehensive remittance engine to quickly and easily capitalize on the digital payments marketplace. Because navigating cross-border payment regulations is time-consuming and constantly changing, ReadyRemit provides the technology components to power a comprehensive compliance engine that supports all your needs. on global regulation.
Remitly completes acquisition of Rewire
Remitly Global, Inc. (“Remitly”), a leading provider of digital financial services for immigrants and their families in more than 170 countries around the world, today announced the successful completion of the acquisition of Rewire. , an Israeli money transfer service was announced earlier. financial services company. immigrant worker service platform, January 5, 2023.
“Today marks an exciting milestone as we enter a new phase of Remitly’s journey,”
“We are thrilled for the Rewire team to join Remitly, bringing with them a strong account-based remittance product in complementary geographies and a track record of product innovation and execution. Our combined expertise and strategic alignment will serve us well as we continue executing on our vision to transform the lives of immigrants and their families by providing the most trusted financial services on the planet.”
Matt Oppenheimer, Co-Founder and CEO, Remitly.
Bondsmith becomes a principal member of the visa network to introduce neo banking capabilities for wealth management firms
Bondsmith, the UK’s leading provider of savings and cash management solutions to the wealth management industry, has become a Prime Member of Visa, the world leader in digital payments, to continue its mission to improve the wealth management industry.
Fintech and super apps are slowly gaining market share in the wealth management industry. As a result, existing wealth management institutions must innovate to retain assets and attract the next generation of investors. Currently a Visa Prime Member in the UK and an Associate Member in New Zealand, Bondsmith will be offering a white-label Visa debit card to its wealth management clients. This gives clients the ability to offer checking accounts to their clients, extending their services beyond investments and into transaction banking.
“Our vision is to bring embedded banking to the wealth management industry to enable holistic financial management and planning. We are thrilled to be working with Visa and leveraging their secure global network to bring this new solution to our clients, helping them innovate and improve their customer offerings.”
Michael Doyle, Founder and CEO of Bondsmith.
“Fintech companies play a crucial role in driving innovations that meet specific consumer demand. We’re delighted that Bondsmith has become a principal member of the Visa network, to enable access to embedded banking in the wealth management industry.”
Claire Dopson, Head of New Business Development at Visa.
Titan Wealth Acquires Midlands-based IFA Firm Telford Mann Group Limited
Titan Wealth Holdings is pleased to announce the acquisition of Telford Mann Group Limited.
With a £750 million AUA and over £700 million in assets under management, Telford Mann is a company of Notary Public Financial Planners and Discretionary Investment Directors, originally licensed was founded by Moore Chartered Accountants in 1988. Based on Kettering, the acquisition will significantly increase Titan’s presence in the region.
Telford Mann provides financial advice to its clients and a full range of model portfolios managed on a discretionary basis, which has performed well since its inception.
Jon Telford and Jilly Mann, Co-CEOs, will stay with the business for another two years to facilitate a smooth transition for the strong management team, who are motivated to continue to thrive within the Group. Titan is larger. The acquisition of Telford Mann further expands the group’s capabilities and strengthens Titan’s ability to deliver comprehensive and integrated investment and platform services as well as its client monitoring strategy.
“From our early conversations, we quickly felt that Titan Wealth would be a valuable partner to take Telford Mann into the next stage of its growth. Jilly and I are incredibly proud of what we achieved together, and we look forward to working with the team at Titan over the next two years to ensure a seamless transfer of management, for our colleagues and our clients.”
Jon Telford, Joint Managing Director at Telford Mann.
“The acquisition of Telford Mann represents an exciting opportunity for Titan and brings a high-quality business into the Group with the scope to further grow EBITDA over the coming years. Titan is increasingly well-positioned to pursue our ambitious growth targets, meet and drive further demand for our integrated client to custody model of investment and platform services.”
Andrew Fearon, Joint CEO & Head of M&A at Titan Wealth Holdings.
The acquisition is expected to complete in January 2023, subject to regulatory approval.